ONS YouTube video shows state of self-employed labour market

A little more light has recently been shed on the state of self-employment in the UK, at least for the users of a certain popular video-sharing service. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has posted a video on YouTube detailing the composition of the self-employed labour market in statistics, charts and graphs, and it may make interesting watching for clients of Sherwin Currid (http://www.sherwincurrid.com) tax accountants in Surrey.

This is the first video that ONS has uploaded relating to the self-employed labour market, and in many ways, it simply confirms many people’s preconceptions of the subject. It shows that 70% of the self-employed are male, as well as that they generally work longer hours than those who are employed in a more traditional ‘9 to 5’. Over the course of its 3 minutes, the video draws comparisons to this 25 million-strong employed population, considering how, since 2008, there has been a change in the number of people working for themselves.

The office states in the video that there has been a historic rise in self-employment in recent years “against a backdrop of a falling numbers of employees.” The rise has gained pace over the years, with the 36 months from 2008 seeing 147,000 people enter self-employment – compared to the 219,000 new self-employed workers in just 12 months from 2011 to 2012. This is another change that has been largely attributed to men.

Other information to come to light in the video for anyone considering a small business accountant in Surrey is the fact that the self-employed are more numerous in London than anywhere else, as well as that nearly six in 10 self-employed people use their own house in “some form” for carrying out their work.

One thing that the video does not touch on is whether such a huge boost in self-employment is down to widespread redundancies among the employed workforce since the beginning of the economic slowdown. It is widely thought to be the case that many of those who have lost, or struggled to gain employment have turned to freelancing as a way to return to work in a labour market of ever-increasing flexibility.

Here at Sherwin Currid (http://www.sherwincurrid.com), we can give both the new and established self-employed access to the most suitable and best-qualified accountants in Woking and Surrey for the handling of their accounting and tax affairs. With contractor and freelancer accountancy services that encompass annual accounts, the Corporation Tax return, telephone support, limited company formation and more, the company’s accountants can ease the transition to self-employment, in addition to making life easier for long-time freelance professionals.